Archive for December, 2010

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Every week during the 2010-11 season, the languagecaster team explain a football phrase or cliché for learners of English who love the sport. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase and you can also read the transcript below that. You can find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football clichés here and our huge football glossary here.

Listen here: A Wake Up Call.mp3 | See the complete list here

Transcript

List of 2010/11 Football Phrases

This week’s English for football is the phrase ‘a wake up call‘. This phrase is sometimes used with the verb to receive, to receive a wake-up call. Basically, this means to get a shock, a warning, or an alarm, that warns that something needs to change quickly, that action to avoid disaster is needed. This week, Arsenal thrashed Premier League Champions, Chelsea, 3-1, which made it one win in six games fro the Blues. The team and coach need to stop this bad run of form. The defeat was a wake-up call for Chelsea, Ancellotti received a wake up call.

A wake up call

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This week we go north to Scotland for one of the biggest derbies in world football, spotlight some of the big Premier League clashes and also take a look at La Liga, which resumes action in January. Check out some language used in making predictions here. This week’s guest predictor is Dave, a Bolton Wanderers fan.

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On this week’s podcast we feature the best player in the world in 2010 as well as all the regular favourites on the show. Remember on this week’s podcast you can also:

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This week’s main report features the best player in the world. And no, he does not play for Argentina! Xavi Hernández makes it as languagecaster’s player of the year, so good that even Leo Messi has to take a bow. Explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the post.

Transcript

When debating who is the best player in the world invariably it comes down to two players: Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Regular listeners to our podcast will know where we stand on this issue with Messi more of a team player, a more prolific goal scorer and the possessor of more league titles. But is Messi even the best player at Barcelona? According to FIFA the Catalan side have the top three players in the world in their side: the World Cup winning-goal scorer Andres Iniesta, club captain Xavi Hernández and of course Messi all being nominated for the Ballon D’Or trophy. However, the prestigious UK-based magazine World Soccer has decided to give its annual award to the 29-year old captain of Barcelona, Xavi. continue

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Congratulations to Inter Milan for becoming the world’s best team although after yet another fantastic performance I doubt many in Catalonia would agree with that. Man City and Tevez are in the news again while the football world actually felt sorry for Big Sam! You can listen to these and other stories on our weekly podcast. Explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the post.

The Good

Well done to Rafa Benitez and his Inter Milan side for becoming champions of the world after their 3-0 thrashing of unfancied Congolese side TP Mazembe in the FIFA Club World Cup championship in Abu Dhabi last weekend. Goals from Pandev, Samuel Eto’o and Biabiany gave the neroazzurri their third title and their first since 1965, a win that may take some of the pressure off their Spanish manager.

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Lots of big football news despite the snow causing havoc in the UK last weekend. Tevez decides to stay but City fail to go top, Inter are champions of the world but Barca are really much better than them! Check out languagecaster.com’s review section to read more about the footballing news. We also try to predict who will come out on top in some of the big games in our weekly predictions. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
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FEATURED POSTS

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PREDICTION

This week’s featured match sees Arsenal play Chelsea in the Premier League. Damian’s predictions are below, what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s English for football phrase is nothing to do with winning, losing or tactics but instead is all about a piece of sports clothing known as the snood. It is, as can be seen in the image, a type of scarf that warms the neck during the cold winter months and many players are using it despite the fact that many commentators and fans think it shows a form of weakness. Arsenal manager Wenger is a big fan claiming that his backroom staff had said they can help his players perform better though his Manchester United counterpart, Alex Ferguson, disagrees and stated recently that ‘real men don’t wear snoods‘.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Carlos Tevez has played for 3 Premier League clubs. Manchester City, Manchester United and…?
a. West Ham
b. Tottenham
c. Newcastle
d. Everton

Check the answer next week. The answer to last week’s question – According to FIFA, football’s roots are in – d (China)
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Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

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Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast. You can also follow us at Twitter

For all students of the beautiful game

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 Print This Post | Subscribe: Weekly Football Phrase

Every week during the 2010-11 season, the languagecaster team explain a football phrase or cliché for learners of English who love the sport. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase and you can also read the transcript below that. You can find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football clichés here and our huge football glossary here.

Listen here: The snood.mp3 | See the complete list here

Transcript

This week’s English for football phrase is nothing to do with winning, losing or tactics but instead is all about a piece of sports clothing known as the snood. It is, as can be seen in the image, a type of scarf that warms the neck during the cold winter months and many players are using it despite the fact that many commentators and fans think it shows a form of weakness. Arsenal manager Wenger is a big fan claiming that his backroom staff had said they can help his players perform better though his Manchester United counterpart, Alex Ferguson, disagrees and stated recently that ‘real men don’t wear snoods‘.

The snood

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Only the English Premier League have fixtures over the festive period and we have chosen 6 of the biggest games that will take place from the 26th-28th December in our weekly predictions battle. Listen to our predictions on the weekly languagecaster.com podcast, and leave your’s below. Check out some language used in making predictions here. This week’s guest predictor is Steve, a fan of LA Galaxy.

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On this week’s podcast look at the draw for the knockout stages of the Champions League – what’s the most interesting tie, which teams are dark horses, and which is a mismatch? Remember on this week’s show you can also:

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This week, as every week, there have been so many headlines – Tevez is unhappy at Manchester City, Sam Allardyce was sacked at Blackburn, Estudiantes de la Plata win the Apertura crown in Argentina and an African team, TP Mazembe, make the finals of the Club World Cup. Check out languagecaster.com’s review section to read more about the footballing news. On this week’s main report section of our weekly podcast show we take a look at the Champions League draw – the exciting match ups, the potential banana skins, the easy ties. We also try to predict who will come out on top in some of the big games in our weekly predictions. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
________________________________________

FEATURED POSTS

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon
________________________________________

PREDICTION

This week’s featured match sees Manchester United travel to Chelsea in the Premier League with the club from the North West hoping to cement their position at the top. Damian and Damon’s predictions are below, what do you think?

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week on languagecaster’s look at footballing language we focus in a footballing cliché often used in newspaper headlines. The cliché is – to slam. To slam means to criticise heavily, to attack verbally. This week there have been two examples in which to slam has been used in football news headlines. The first example is connected with the disagreement between the Argentinia and Man City forward Carlos Tevez and his club – Tevez agent slams City’s Cook. So this means that Tevez’s agent has attacked or disagreed with Manchester City’s owners and administrators. It can also be used in the passive form as in this example. Blatter slammed by gay groups. This refers to FIFA’s President, Sepp Blatter’s comments that homosexuals should refrain from ‘sexual activities’ during the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 – homosexuality is illegal in the country. In this headline gay rights groupd criticise the comments of the head of FIFA. To slam or be slammed by

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.
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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

For the last few weeks, FIFA has been in the news as they have decided the hosts for the 2018 & 2022 World Cup Finals. They have also made some controversial comments about in which country the game of football began. According to FIFA, football’s roots are in -

a. Greece

b. England

c. Germany

d. China

The answer to last week’s question – How many managers has the Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley, hired since he bought the club in 2008?  was b. 5 – Keegan, Kinnear, Shearer, Hughton, and Pardew

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Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

________________________________________
Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast. You can also follow us at Twitter

For all students of the beautiful game